memeorandum: Reporters call out the State Department for ‘lockdown’ on Ukraine (Michael Calderone/Politico)

12:50 PM ET, October 11, 2019

Top Items:

Ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch tells Congress Trump pressured State Dept. to remove her — The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine whose abrupt ouster in May has become a topic of interest for House impeachment investigators said Friday that her departure came as a direct result …

Discussion: The Atlantic and CNN

New York Times:

Trump Had Ukraine Envoy Removed on ‘False Claims,’ She Tells House Inquiry — Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch was recalled from Ukraine, she told impeachment investigators on Friday, despite a boss saying she had “done nothing wrong.” — WASHINGTON — Marie L. Yovanovitch …

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story, The Mahablog, Political Wire and Mother Jones

Washington Post:

At least four national security officials raised alarms about Ukraine policy before and after Trump call with Ukrainian president — At least four national security officials were so alarmed by the Trump administration's attempts to pressure Ukraine for political purposes that they raised concerns …

Discussion: The Week, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, CNN, POLITICUSUSA, Vanity Fair, The New Civil Rights Movement, Boing Boing and Mediaite

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

Senior adviser to Pompeo resigns — Michael McKinley, a career diplomat and senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has resigned his position amid rising dissatisfaction and plummeting morale inside the State Department over what is seen as Pompeo's failure to support personnel ensnared in the Ukraine controversy.

Discussion: CNN, Hullabaloo, New York Post, The Week and Raw Story

NBC News:

Trump's former Russia aide set to give revealing testimony on Giuliani, Sondland — Fiona Hill's appearance next week before Congress has stoked fear among people close to the president. — WASHINGTON — Fiona Hill, who was until recently President Donald Trump's top aide on Russia and Europe …

Discussion: Washington Post and Boing Boing

Washington Examiner:

Joe Biden worked with whistleblower when he was vice president, officials reveal — The 2020 Democratic candidate with whom the CIA whistleblower had a “professional” tie is Joe Biden, according to intelligence officers and former White House officials. — Lawyers for the whistleblower …

Associated Press:
Diplomat removed after upholding protocol, ex-official says

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Michael Calderone / Politico:
Reporters call out the State Department for ‘lockdown’ on Ukraine

Discussion: The Week

CNN:
Top US diplomat who called Ukraine aid freeze ‘crazy’ is asked to testify

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Dan Mangan / CNBC:

Federal appeals court upholds House subpoena for Trump's financial records — A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., upheld a subpoena for President Donald Trump's financial records from the Democrat-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Discussion: Political Wire, The Gateway Pundit and Althouse

Axios:

Appeals court upholds House subpoena for Trump's financial records — The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Friday a House subpoena for President Trump's financial records to Mazars USA, the president's longtime accounting firm. — Why it matters: This is one of the last stops for this case.

Discussion: Fox News and Associated Press

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Trump loses appeal to stop House subpoena of his tax documents

Discussion: Common Dreams

Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
Appeals Court Upholds House Subpoena Of Trump Financial Records

Discussion: Raw Story

CNN:

Fact check: Trump falsely claims ‘we have no soldiers in Syria’ — (CNN)President Donald Trump falsely claimed on Thursday that the United States has no troops in Syria. — Trump was defending his decision to remove American troops from a part of northern Syria that Turkey wanted to attack.

Discussion: Sputnik International, Washington Post, Defense One, Althouse and Reason

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE:

Statement by Department of Defense Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Jonathan Rath Hoffman — Statement by Department of Defense Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Jonathan R. Hoffman: — Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar spoke by phone …

Discussion: National Review

Robert Burns / Associated Press:
Pentagon urges Turkey to halt incursion into Syria

Discussion: ABC News, Politico and Defense One

Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
Trump Says U.S. Troops Have Quit Syria. It's Not True.

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico, Slate and Al Jazeera

Lara Seligman / Foreign Policy: 'Some of the Most Noble People I'd Ever Met'

BBC:
Turkey Syria offensive: Dozens killed as assault continues

Discussion: BBC and Raw Story

Elizabeth Dias / New York Times:
‘Shame on Him’: Evangelicals Call Out Trump on Syria

Discussion: The Guardian, Sputnik International, The Federalist and Raw Story

Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:

Giuliani's Ukraine Team: In Search of Influence, Dirt and Money — The president's lawyer was paid by Lev Parnas, who with Igor Fruman worked on behalf of President Trump in Ukraine. — WASHINGTON — When Rudolph W. Giuliani set out to dredge up damaging information on President Trump's rivals in Ukraine …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Week, Raw Story, Just Security, CNN, The National Interest, Law & Crime, Vox, TheBlaze, emptywheel, Progress Pond and Hullabaloo

Aaron Katersky / ABC News:

Rudy Giuliani's relationship with arrested men is subject of criminal investigation: Sources — The business relationship between President Donald Trump's private lawyer Rudy Giuliani and the men charged Thursday in a campaign finance scheme is a subject of the ongoing criminal investigation …

Discussion: Political Wire, Shareblue Media and Boing Boing

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:
The Mystery of Rudy Giuliani's Vienna Trip

Bloomberg:
Rudy Giuliani Draws Prosecutors' Scrutiny With Ukraine Allies' Arrest

Discussion: Raw Story

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:

McSally allies plead for air cover as Democratic groups pummel the Arizona senator — Sen. Martha McSally had incurred weeks of unchecked attacks from Democratic groups, and the Arizona Republican's allies are pleading for help. — Since early September, Advancing Arizona has targeted McSally …

Discussion: Political Wire

Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press: Republicans stumbling over question at heart of impeachment

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Trump predicts senators will quash impeachment. His allies aren't so sure.

Discussion: The White House

Wall Street Journal:
GOP Senators' Concerns Muddy Path to Dismiss Possible Impeachment Charges

Discussion: Raw Story, Honest Graft, Mediaite and Daily Kos

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press:

Analysis: In impeachment fight, it's Trump vs. Constitution — NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has spent his time in office trying to bend the conventions of the American presidency to his will. Now he appears to be trying to override a core principle of democracy: that no one is above the law.

Discussion: One America News Network, Politico, Associated Press, Shareblue Media and Breitbart

Rachael Bade / Washington Post:
New revelations about Trump test Pelosi's narrow impeachment strategy

Discussion: Politico

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:
Trump obfuscates, misleads and exaggerates to make his case against impeachment

Discussion: The White House

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
The Memo: Bad polls for Trump shake GOP

Discussion: Washington Monthly

David Freedlander / New York Magazine:

How Trump-Country Democrat Rep. Max Rose Got to Impeachment — Because this is a story about Max Rose, it has to at some point find him at Jody's Club Forest, a Staten Island bar he famously frequents, drinking pitchers of Bud Light. And because Max Rose is who he is …

Discussion: Townhall, Washington Free Beacon and The Daily Caller

Allyson Chiu / Washington Post:

‘Stunning in ugliness & tone’: Trump denounced for attacking Somali refugees in Minnesota — For roughly six minutes Thursday night, President Trump predictably singled out Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) during his campaign rally in her home district of Minneapolis.

Discussion: Axios, Slate, Daily Kos, Al Jazeera, Sputnik International and HuffPost

Alexander Nazaryan / Yahoo News:

Pentagon officials deemed withholding of aid to Ukraine was illegal — WASHINGTON — The Pentagon was confused. Hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine had been appropriated in late 2018 by Congress, intended to help fend off aggression by neighboring Russia.

Discussion: Raw Story, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Politico, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Associated Press:

Iran says oil tanker struck by missiles off Saudi Arabia — TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Two missiles struck an Iranian tanker traveling through the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia on Friday, Iranian officials said, the latest incident in the region amid months of heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, American Military News, NPR, Washington Post and Liberty Unyielding

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: The drama behind Trump's outreach to Trey Gowdy

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Washington Post

Brianna Sacks / BuzzFeed News:

A Group Of Students Burned A Latina Author's Book Because They Felt Attacked For Being White — Jennine Capó Crucet spoke about “white privilege” at Georgia Southern University. The freshman audience said she attacked them for being white and privileged.

Discussion: USA Today and The College Fix

Los Angeles Times:

Trump's children take in millions overseas as president slams Biden's son — Eric Trump sounded shocked that Hunter Biden hadn't drawn more criticism for his lucrative business deals in Ukraine and China while his father, Joe Biden, was vice president. — “Can you imagine if I took 3 cents from the Ukraine or 4 cents from China?”

New York Times:

At Minneapolis Rally, an Angry Trump Reserves Sharpest Attack for Biden — MINNEAPOLIS — A fired-up President Trump lashed out against Democrats at a combative campaign rally on Thursday night, deriding them as “very sick and deranged people” who were only investigating him for abuse of power in order to “erase your vote.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Common Dreams

Ashley Feinberg / Slate:

Bret Stephens Backs Out of Bedbug Debate — New York Times opinion columnist and man who thinks it's deeply important to engage in open debate Bret Stephens has backed out of an upcoming scheduled event at George Washington University, where he was set to discuss civil discourse online with professor Dave Karpf.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite